Why Should you Choose a Virtual Receptionist over an In-House Receptionist?

There are many reasons to choose a virtual receptionist over an in-house receptionist. If you’re running a small business or a start up, you may be faced with this decision. With so many reasons to choose virtual over in-house, it’s important to look at the main reasons. Here are six main reasons to go virtual with your next receptionist.

How You Pay

The way you pay for your receptionist makes a big difference. An in-house receptionist will require an hourly or salary, along with benefits and paid time off. This means you pay for time they are not actually answering phones or doing anything to benefit your business. You will also need to pay them on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.

With a virtual receptionist service, you won’t be paying an hourly or salary rate. Instead, you pay per minute and only for the minutes the receptionists are actually helping callers. You don’t need to cut a check and worry about payroll, as you can order your package on a monthly subscription and upgrade whenever necessary.

Quality Control and Training

Hiring an in-house receptionist means you have to train them and hope they work out as a quality employee. If you do a great job of screening applicants, you may be able to hire a great receptionist. However, if you don’t, you may go through a few before you find one that really handles the job well.

Virtual receptionists are professionally trained to provide quality customer service over the phone. They will make sure your callers receive great service all of the time. The consistency alone makes it worth it. This option also provides the added benefit of not needing to train your receptionist at all.

Flexibility

In-house receptionists give you some flexibility. They can act as a secretary and handle filing, checking in clients and many other tasks. However, they don’t provide full flexibility. If you are at the office or it’s closed, they may not be there to provide any type of help for your business.

When you hire a virtual receptionist service, you gain full business flexibility. You can run your business from anywhere and they can handle your calls any time of the day. Your virtual receptionist team will also be able to schedule appointments, take orders and handle some general questions.

You don’t even need an actual office space to use a virtual receptionist. You can run your business from home or on the road and they will handle all of your incoming calls without any issue.

Huge Business Savings

An in-house receptionist is much more expensive than a virtual receptionist service. You will spend between 50% and 90% less for a great virtual receptionist service compared to a great in-house receptionist. This means you get to save plenty of money because you don’t have to provide any benefits or a full salary.

Along with the actual savings, you gain more coverage from virtual receptionists compared to an in-house receptionist. This may translate into more appointments, sales and profits.

Get your Time Back

If you spend any time answer the phones or any of your most important employees do, they will never have to do it again. With a virtual receptionist, you never have to cover your phones. An in-house receptionist fills this position well, but when they are on lunch, taking a break, out sick or on vacation, you still have to answer the phone.

A virtual receptionist will cover the time you don’t want to cover. They can give you full coverage or they can help when you don’t have anybody else to answer the phones. Either way, you gain your time back to do uninterrupted work. Imagine gaining a few hours back very week that would have been time you spent on the phone with customers. A virtual receptionist can give this time back to you.

Your business is too important to leave it to chance. While an in-house receptionist may seem traditional, sometimes taking a different path is a better way to go. If you want to save time, money, gain flexibility and gain many other benefits, find a great virtual receptionist service for your business.

Conversational is the leading virtual receptionist, virtual assistant, and call answering service provider in North America. With a team of skilled, friendly virtual receptionists and virtual assistants paired with our cutting edge technology, we're dedicated to delivering a great experience to your callers at a price you can afford. Put an end to missed calls and take advantage of the number one call answering service for small businesses, legal firms, and medical offices today!